This is one of three "stories" and readers will notice that all three were from the days when I hired consultants for clients. I have employed many people for long-term jobs, not simply as consultants, but that period in the consulting business is especially useful now. Never before nor since have I spoken to more people looking for jobs, hired them, and seen the results of their work than during that period. I witnessed a lot of personal "stories" and these three are helpful to me now and I am thankful I had that opportunity.

John is not his real name. Using his real first name would not be a problem, no one could possibly identify him by that alone, but I am still more comfortable doing it, so I will. John's story is different than those of Charles and Rose, but is also representative of many other experiences I have had. Whereas Charles and Rose both did something unique in my experience, John's approach was far more common. Let me explain.

Briefly, here's the background. USAID is the acronym for the American foreign aid program. From time to time, they give grants to non-profit agencies for worthwhile projects in poor nations. Such a non-profit was preparing a project to address poverty in an African nation and they hoped to get a grant. Although their team in that country was experienced, they had never prepared such a grant proposal and asked me to find a consultant to help them. John arrived at my office with his resume for an interview at the same time. He had been retired from USAID for about five years. He told me he had found retirement more expensive than he expected and he needed additional income. His resume was perfect for the assignment. I told him about it and he was enthusiastic.

Due to some previous difficult experiences, I carefully explained to John that he had to change his outlook and his behavior. After more than two decades of sitting on the funding agency's side of the table, he would now be advising those who were sitting on the requesting agency's side of the table. He had no right to make demands, as he once did; he had to do his best to provide good advice. If the client decided to do otherwise, despite his efforts, he had to accept that. It was their project, not his, and he was not the final judge of its worthiness anymore. He agreed and said he completely understood. I accepted that and submitted his resume to the client. They were delighted, given his background. They did ask about his "absence" from the field, but I assured them that he was checking to be sure he was up-to-date on USAID's requirements (true, and he did so).

He went out on assignment for a month and I moved on to other business. He sent me a few short messages that work was proceeding well, he had identified some things that needed changing, and that he was helping the client to make the changes. There was no indication of any problem.

Shortly before his return from the field, a friend of mine at the non-profit agency sent me an email with some in-house memos attached that she felt I should be aware of in advance. They were copies of internal memos from their team in Africa. They were not upset. They were not just angry. They were explosively angry! They said he was acting like he was their director, demanding that they make major changes in the proposal that they felt distorted their project. He wouldn't listen to them, he would only lecture them. They were really pissed off and not just with him, but my organization because we had sent them such a jerk.

I groaned. This is exactly what I had told him not to do and the reaction was exactly what I did not want to hear. It was too late now; he was already on his way back.

When he got in, I asked him how it had gone. He said it was fine, he had made a number of recommendations, there had been some resistance, but he was sure they saw things his way now. They had been shouting in their memos, but they obviously had been more careful with him due to his experience and his position. I had faced the same situation in their position. Sometimes, when he gets really obnoxious, it is just a lot easier to let the consultant rant on and wait until he leaves.

I eventually got things sorted out with the client. John had made some good suggestions and they accepted that, after he had left. They never wanted to see him again, but they accepted my apology on behalf of my firm. However, that is not quite the end of this story.

A year later or thereabouts, I got a call from John and I have not yet forgotten his exact words after I said hello. "Bob, you've got to get me a job!" Very emotional. That's all. I was truly surprised. I said, why? John told me that the roof of his house has been seriously damaged and the repairs cost more than he expected. He hadn't planned for this and didn't have enough money, so he needed a job fast! I had to find him something! I expressed sympathy, told him I had nothing at the moment (true), but would call him if I did (not true, but I wanted to be kind).

Poor John, but we should be grateful, I suppose. He provides two lessons in one story. The first is that it is not easy to return to your old field years after retirement and adjust to a new role that you never played before, even though you feel sure you can. Hoping to consult in their former fields after retirement is very common among those retirees who need the money or even just the stimulation of work. People have been known to do this successfully, so you may know of people who have, but that is simply because they were successful. The majority fail and you never hear of them for that very reason.

The second lesson was that John, who I had only met the one time before, made a terrible mistake when he called me I had to get him a job as if he was entitled to one. Ah, entitlement, a dangerous word for any human. If young adults demand jobs as their "entitlements", older adults set them straight very quickly. They are told they must earn them. When those same older adults retire, however, some of them believe they are entitled to a variety of things, including jobs should they want one again. No one may "set them straight" out of kindness or simply to avoid the hassle. It would be a very unkind thing to do that to a young adult. Why is it kind to do it to any older adult? We will be dealing more with the myth of entitlement in the future.

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